Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Just like all of you out there, I am incredibly happy to be able to watch a hockey game that counts. I'd love to say that it was one for the ages...a classic that will go down in the annals of hockey history and which we will be talking about for years. Unfortunately, that was just not the case. While it was enjoyable, you could tell that this was a match between two teams that are trying to find themselves.

Even though they lost, the Leafs completely outplayed the Habs. The Habs looked disorganized and uncoordinated for most of the 60+ minutes of the game. I guess that is to be expected and Habs fans out there should not overreact to the terrible play of our team. It is gonna take a little bit of time for this team to jell. Keep in mind that we DID win, even though we played like crap!

It wasn't all bad, however, as there were a bunch of bright spots in this game.

1 - Price was outstanding, from start to finish. He is only reason that Montreal got ANY points in this game, let alone two!
2 - Ryan O'Byrne has arrived. He looks confident, is hitting people, making that solid first pass. Nice. Very nice.
3 - For all the talk of Toronto being a physical team who would beat up and intimidate the Habs, it just didn't materialize. Sure there were fights. But Montreal went toe to toe against Toronto. Montreal answered to Colton Orr with George Laraque - which was pretty much a tie, We had Moen against Komisarek, and generally speaking out-hit Toronto. Good to see that this team can hold its own.
4 - Komisarek looked nervous, was thinking WAY too much, was trying way too hard and ultimately ended up costing his team the game.
5 - Gionta is a star. I think of all of the new aquisitions, Brian Gionta is going to end up being the biggest fan favorite. He is fast, he is responsible in the defensive zone, he scores goals and he demonstrates leadership. What more could you ask from a player?
6 - Tomas Plekanec looked great out there. Good for him! Now only if his linemate, Andrei Kostitsyn, could wake up.

Ok, that's it for now. Montreal grabbed two important points and they have time to figure out the chemisty, which is good because you can tell that they need it!

One potentially bad note: Markov left with an injury in the third period. Let's hope it is not serious.

So what do you all think about the game? Good? Bad? Loved it? Hated it?